


Not Another Word

by changeapproved



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 00:58:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15352689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/changeapproved/pseuds/changeapproved
Summary: After catching a bullet to the leg on a mission gone awry, Melinda May begrudgingly directs her protégé to the nearest safe place while they wait for extraction. Daisy is thrilled.Set at some point in S3 pre-Hive.





	Not Another Word

"Doesn't look like much of a safe house," Daisy observed, readjusting May's arm across her shoulders and pulling the woman forward. May responded with something akin to a grunt, which honestly was more than Daisy could have hoped for considering the circumstances and considering May was...well, May. "Almost there."

 

It was supposed to be a simple op. An abandoned Cybertek lab in the middle of Nowhere, Arizona. They'd get in, grab whatever data they could find and then get out. Turned out those reports of abandonment had been greatly exaggerated. Thanks to the element of surprise they'd managed to get the data just fine - give or take a few dozen unconscious scientists and security guards. It was getting out once the whole building had gone into lockdown that had proven more difficult. They'd managed it (because of course they had), but not before a rogue bullet had caught May in the leg. Daisy hadn't even realised she was injured until they were back at the car and May had thrown her the keys. It had been mightily suspicious. May _never_ let her drive.

 

Now, five hours of travelling later and what looked like severe blood loss on May's part ( _just a flesh wound my ass,_ Daisy had responded when the older woman had told her she was fine) they had finally arrived at what Daisy assumed was one of May's safehouses. It was...cute, for lack of a better word. A small white house surrounded by sprawling, well maintained gardens backlit by the gentle light of the morning sun on one side and a beautiful rocky incline leading to a more desert-y plain on the other. Daisy eyed a small picnic table by the side of the house. Not the kind of place she'd have expected her SO to choose if she were being honest.

 

"How do we get in?" asked Daisy. She paused as they drew closer to the front door. "Oh good. Stairs."

 

"Try knocking," May suggested through gritted teeth. Daisy risked a sideways glance then - beads of sweat rolled down May's pallid face as she was all but dragged up the stone steps.

 

"It's not empty?" asked Daisy. May didn't reply. "Right. Knocking on the door then." 

 

They reached the porch and May pulled her arm away from Daisy's support and stood up straight. Daisy rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Instead, she reached forward and knocked hard on the wooden door.

 

"It's only half four, you know," said Daisy. "If anyone lives here they're probably sleeping. Maybe we should just-" 

 

The door was pulled open to reveal an elderly, irritated Chinese man and Daisy abruptly stopped talking. He took one look at them and let out a long, weary sigh. A retired agent maybe?

 

"Hi." Daisy raised a hand in greeting. "I'm Daisy-"

 

"I'll make some tea," the man interrupted, then he turned and walked back into the house. He called behind him, "You'd better sit down before you fall down, Mellie."

 

Daisy blinked in surprised and turned to her companion. "Did he just call you Mellie?"

 

"I don't know what you're taking about," said May. She stalked past Daisy and into the house.

 

"He did!" said Daisy, hurrying after her. "I definitely heard Mellie."

 

"You heard nothing."

 

\------------------------------------------

 

"So are we going to pretend I haven't noticed how well you seem to know your way around this place?" asked Daisy. May glared at her, though it lacked it's normal ferocity and was made somewhat less threatening by the awkward way she was perched on the edge of a toilet seat with her foot propped up on a bath. "This is going to hurt." 

 

May said nothing so Daisy cringed on her behalf as she pushed the needle through the skin of her leg. When they'd first arrived, May had disappeared into the bathroom, ostensibly with a plan to sew up her own bullet wound. Seeing the way her hands shook from blood loss, Daisy decided that wasn't happening on her watch.

 

"Who's the old guy?" Daisy then asked, partially to distract May from the pain and partially to distract herself from the feeling of metal sliding through flesh. She knew this was necessary, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was directly hurting May. "An agent of SHIELD?"

 

May sighed. "My dad."

 

Daisy stopped. "Your _dad_? You're joking, right?"

 

"I don't joke."

 

A laugh escaped her throat. "You brought me to your dad's house? That's...wow."

 

"I'm about to pass out, Daisy. Could you at least pretend to be less delighted?" said May. Daisy grinned at her.

 

"Nope," said replied, mouth popping on the 'p'. "Is this where you grew up? Can I see your childhood bedroom? Is it full of tiny leather jackets and scowling teddy bears wearing black belts?"

 

"No."

 

"To which part? Like...all of it or just the part about me being allowed to see it?" asked Daisy. May's breath hitched as she pulled on the cotton now holding the wound together. Hopefully that would stop the bleeding, because frankly May didn't have much more blood to spare.  

 

"No."

 

"Gotcha," said Daisy. She stood up a little straighter and looked around the bathroom. "What should I do with this towel? Throw it away? I'm not sure all this blood is going to wash out." May made a non-committal noise and her eyes slid shut. "And I'm sorry, but I don't think your pants are salvageable with the...bullet hole and the blood. Is there something else you can wear?"

 

"Next door on the left," said May, her voice was strained and Daisy felt some of her amusement fade into worry. "'s'my bedroom."

 

"All right," said Daisy. She turned to the sink and quickly washed her hands. "You think you can make it there?" May opened her eyes and scowled. "I'll take that as a yes."

 

Between them, they managed to get May back on her feet and out the door and Daisy was glad to escape the small, claustrophobic bathroom that now smelled of disinfectant and blood. She'd go back to clean it up later once she was sure May was lying down and not about to pull her stitches.

 

"Just to be clear you're not about to die on me, right?" asked Daisy, trying very hard not to sound as out of breath as she was feeling. It really had been a long day.

 

"Wasn't planning on it," replied May as she threw a hand out to steady herself on the wall. 

 

The bedroom May directed her to was completely devoid of any personal touches or decoration. Daisy felt a small twinge of guilty disappointment as she helped May over to the bed in the middle of the room and sat her down on it. Maybe she'd be able to explore it a bit more thoroughly later. Discover some hidden secrets. There was bound to be _something_ here that could help her learn more about the woman she's spent so much time with over the last few years - maybe in the wardrobe? Obviously May had lived here at some point to have her own specific bedroom. Just one embarrassing photograph and Daisy would be happy. Was that really too much to ask?

 

"Okay," said Daisy awkwardly. "I'm going to help you change your clothes now. I know you'd rather do it yourself, but try not to punch me in the face or anything."

 

May rolled her eyes and pointed to a drawer on the far side of the room that contained a pair of baggy sweatpants and tank tops. That would do.

 

Once May had changed out of her bloody clothes, Daisy heaved out a sigh of relief. She might not have been shot, but she'd taken a few hits herself in their escape from the Cybertek lab and her arms ached from the pressure of controlling the vibrations within her. Exhaustion was starting to catch up to her and she allowed herself a moment to slump down onto the bed.

 

"There's a guest room down the hall," said May, now very obviously struggling to remain conscious.

 

"I'm okay," said Daisy. She yawned loudly and then kicked her shoes off to join her discarded jacket on the floor. "Just need a second and then I'll get up." She lay down on her back across the foot of the bed and allowed her feet to dangle off the edge. "Yep. Just one minute to rest my eyes."

 

She was out in seconds.

 

\-----------------------------------------

 

When May woke it was light outside. She blinked and looked down the bed to where she'd last seen Daisy napping across her legs. It had aggravated her injuries, but May didn't have the heart to move her. Not after she'd gone above and beyond to make sure May wasn't going to die before finally allowing herself to relax. It had been unnecessary, but sweet.

 

She had to bite back a groan as she rolled over to the edge of the bed and sat up. Some kind soul (could have been her dad but was more likely to have been Daisy) had left a glass of orange juice on the bedside table, which she picked up and drank without pause. Her mouth had tasted like drywall and regret. Whoever was responsible for the bad intel they'd been given for this mission were living on borrowed time once she got back to the base. _'Abandoned_ ' indeed. Even with Daisy at her side she was getting too old to be taking on such high intensity missions without backup. She might even treat herself to some painkillers for her aching joints later when nobody was around to see her take them.

 

Not one to lie in bed once she was awake, May rolled her shoulders and then forced herself up and over to her wardrobe where she pulled out a thin, black dressing gown. Her entire left leg radiated a burning pain from the hole just above her knee, but it was time to make her way downstairs to where she knew Daisy would be persecuting her father. He could hold his own she was sure, but Daisy had some serious issues with boundaries and she knew William May would be considerably more happy to cross those lines than May herself was. Who knew what he was telling her while May wasn't there to moderate the information.

 

"Don't suppose you have any home movies," was the first thing May heard as she reached the kitchen. Good god.

 

"Agent Johnson," she said sharply. Daisy merely turned her head and offered her a lazy grin. She missed the days when Daisy ( _Skye_ ) was terrified of her.

 

"Hey, May," she said. "Nice of you to finally join us. You've been asleep for six hours if you were wondering." Daisy turned to her father, who sat in front of the kitchen table with a box she recognised as being full of her childhood memorabilia and trophies. "She's starting to slow down in her old age."

 

Her father pulled a face, significantly less amused than Daisy was by the exchange.

 

"I'm fine, dad," said May. She sat down a the table next to him and tried to ignore the gleeful way Daisy was shuffling through her family photos. "It's barely a scratch."

 

"Your mother was cavalier about bullet wounds too. I didn't believe her either." Daisy didn't react to that titbit of information, but May knew she had filed it away for later - she'd been too well trained not to have done.

 

"Don't worry, stuff like this happens all the time," said Daisy instead.

 

The old man inclined his head. "So my daughter gets shot often. Something every father likes to hear."

 

"You're being melodramatic," May said to him. Then she shot Daisy a nasty look. "And this does not happen all the time."

 

"No, sometimes you get stabbed instead," Daisy muttered. "Or electrocuted. Or thrown ten feet in the air across a courtyard."

 

"That was by you," said May.

 

"Doesn't mean it didn't happen."

 

"Daisy. Not now."

 

"Oh don't mind me," said her father, with the kind of long-suffering annoyance born from decades of having to put up with these kinds of arguments. "I'm just an infirm civilian. I'll just sit here and pretend I can't hear you. It's what your mother expected of me too. _Keep in line, old man_."

 

Daisy had the good grace to at least look vaguely apologetic. "I called Coulson again. He'll be on his way to pick us up soon. Apparently ours wasn't the only mission that went south. Can we talk about how he knew where your dad lives without me having to tell him?"

 

"No, we cannot," said May. She stood up then and moved to the kitchen to investigate what her dad had in his fridge. The orange juice had given her a bit of an energy boost, but she was feeling light-headed and she needed some food if she wanted her body to start replenishing all the blood she'd lost on their journey here. If they had time she should do some grocery shopping for her dad before she left to make up for showing up at his door so early in the morning.  

 

"How about we talk about all these cute little ice skating outfits instead?" said Daisy. She held up a picture of a grinning ten year old Melinda in a sparkly purple leotard. "You never do things by halves, do you?"

 

Rather than answer, May picked up a banana from the fruit bowl and leaned against the counter top.

 

Her father scoffed. "Mellie and her mother are incapable of devoting anything other than their whole being to a task." He looked at May. "As a child you used to think you could change the world through sheer force of will." 

 

Daisy laughed. "Not much has changed there then. Remember when we had that suspect of -" her glance temporarily slid to May's father "-something classified probably in custody and you glared at him for three solid hours without saying a word until he burst into tears and gave up all of his information in exchange for us removing 'the scary lady'"

 

"I don't recall," said May, but she couldn't stop the corner of her lip from quirking upwards. Silence was one of the strongest weapons in her arsenal as far as she was concerned.

 

"Please. You remember _everything_ ," said Daisy. May took a bite of the banana in her hand and chewed slowly.

 

Silence in this case turned out to be a mistake because Daisy simply returned her attention to the box in front of her and started pulling out pieces of her past. Old report cards, some skating medals (mostly bronze or runner up ones) and a number of first place martial arts trophies (because it wasn't until her youthful activities incorporated being able to punch people in the face that her skills really began to shine). It helped that it was when she was given her first black belt that she first felt real pride from her mother. It was a rare occurrence and young Melinda worked desperately hard to earn that approval again.

 

Daisy pulled out a small trophy with a tiny gold man performing a karate chop on top and sighed. "Is there anything you're not good at? It's just getting really annoying at this point."

 

May opened her mouth to respond, but her father beat her to it. "Cooking...and golf."

 

"You tried to teach a child to play golf?" asked Daisy, her eyebrows raised in surprise. 

 

"Of course not. A few months ago I tried to teach a fifty year old to play golf." He huffed in exasperation. "She's usually very good at things like that." 

 

"I was a little preoccupied at the time," May protested before she could stop herself. "It's a stupid game anyway."

 

Daisy was positively beaming and May mentally cursed herself in six different languages as she realised the amount of damage control she was going to have to do to stop these little stories from being spread around the entirety of SHIELD. But then, maybe Daisy had earned herself the right to some levity...even if it did have to come at May's expense, and she hadn't seen the girl look quite so cheerful in a long time. 

 

"I gave you very simple instructions! Don't watch the ball and-"

 

"I'm not having this conversation with you _again_."

 

He turned to Daisy. "You see how she talks to me? No respect for the man who raised her."

 

May pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a headache coming on and whether it stemmed from the severe injuries she was choosing to ignore or this inane conversation she couldn't be sure. 

 

"I respect you just fine," she said.

 

Her father made a noise of disagreement and then gestured to Daisy. "Now this one I like. Respectful, interested and when she made lunch for us she didn't wield the knife like a threat."

 

"Then you can have her," said May. "Major holidays and weekends only."

 

"I accept those terms," he replied. "It's about time you gave me a grandchild."

 

May felt her whole body stiffen, but she forced herself to roll her eyes - to go through the motions. Neither her father or Daisy knew what a sore spot that was for her. How once upon a time she'd wanted nothing more than to bring a baby in the world, but monsters who kill children don't get to be a mother. She looked down then and picked up a second banana just for something to do with her hands.  

 

Thankfully, neither of her companions seemed to notice and instead continued to playfully chat about May's many childhood foibles until she felt able to participate again.

 

\---------------------------------------

 

Later in the day when Coulson finally contacted them to say he was five minutes out, Daisy was feeling lighter than she'd felt in a long time. She'd spent the majority of the day sat in the kitchen with Mr May ( _call me William_ , he'd said, but she couldn't quite bring herself to) listening to stories about the places he'd lived throughout his life. Her favourite involved a tiny, mischievous Melinda May almost causing an international incident in Soviet Russia with nothing more than a ball of twine, a calculator and a stick of celery. May herself had even cracked a smile at that one, which was an improvement on the downtrodden aura she'd adopted after her dad's comment about grandchildren. Daisy didn't know what that was about and wasn't sure she wanted to.

 

"I'll come back and visit soon," said May, pulling her father into a brief hug.

 

"Bring Daisy with you," he replied, patting her on the back awkwardly. It was good to know that discomfort with affection ran in the family.

 

Daisy smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up at the implied compliment and swooped in for her own hug when May moved away from her father. He smelled of jasmine tea and his bony arms were warm around her shoulders.

 

"Thanks for showing me all those photos," she said quietly. The photos that she'd sneakily taken pictures of on her phone when May had left the room (she just looked so happy in them and how was Daisy supposed to resist that). "And for letting me hang out here with you even though we showed up unannounced."

 

"You're welcome back any time," he said, and Daisy smiled one more time before releasing the old man from her grip. "Although next time I'd prefer it if my only daughter wasn't bleeding all over the carpet."

 

"It wouldn't have been my first choice either," May said in her driest voice. Her eyes shifted to Daisy then. "You got everything we need?"

 

"Yep," said Daisy, pulling a thumb drive from her pocket and holding it up for May to see. The woman nodded and then after one final farewell to her father, led Daisy back to the front of the house where they would wait for the rest of the team to arrive.

 

The sun was beginning to dip and the whole area smelled dusty somehow. They'd been here for less than a day but Daisy already felt like she was going to miss it. She and May sat down side by side on the steps outside the door and Daisy let out a long sigh.

 

"I like your dad," she said.

 

"He likes you too," said May.

 

"You're just like him."

 

"You think?" asked May. "Most people tell me I'm a carbon copy of my mother."

 

Daisy shrugged. "Well I've never met her so I don't know about that, but yeah, he's all grumble-y on the outside but secretly a total softie." Daisy grinned at May's obvious displeasure at that comparison. "Plus you inherited that hardcore eye roll of his. Like wow. It's uncanny."

 

"I've been called many things in my life, but 'soft' isn't one of them," said May.

 

"That's not true. I heard Hunter call you a softie once. He was being sarcastic though so..." She trailed off and looked at May. The woman seemed better than she had done when they'd first arrived, but her skin had taken on an unnatural pale glow and her movements were sluggish. Or more accurately her movements did not display her usual controlled grace, which for May was the equivalent of a flashing neon sign saying 'I am not okay'. Daisy would feel a lot better once Simmons had checked her over. She did _not_ want to be the one to tell Coulson that Melinda May had contracted some kind of fatal injury on her watch because she was too busy fishing for blackmail material from her father to notice.

 

"Will you really bring me back here next time you visit?" asked Daisy.

 

"If that's what you want."

 

Daisy nodded. "I...like it here. It's nice. And it was nice hanging out with you and your dad. Felt like-" She stopped talking abruptly, cheeks turning red as she realised what she was about to say. Hopefully May hadn't noticed.

 

No such luck. "Felt like what?"

 

Daisy huffed out a breath. "It doesn't matter. It's nothing."

 

"I just suffered through my father telling you about the time I escaped the Chinese embassy and ran naked through the streets of London. You can finish that sentence."

 

"Something embarrassing you did at the age of four does not equate to something embarrassing I was about to say at twenty-six." May pursed her lips and Daisy's stomach twisted with shame. "Ugh don't look at me like that. I was going to say it felt like I was part of the family. It's not a big deal."

 

Silence stretched out in front of them and Daisy tried very hard not to shift her weight uncomfortably while she waited for May to say something - _anything_. She told herself not to expect anything, that this was May she was talking to, and as far as her SO was concerned the fewer words said in a conversation then the better it was for everyone involved. Still, Daisy felt her whole body stiffen into high alert and her fingers began to tap rhythmically against her thighs. Fight or flight.

 

Eventually, after what felt like at least thirty solid minutes (but had in fact been less than thirty seconds), May laid a hand on Daisy's shoulder and squeezed. It was gentle, but she still flinched as though her body expected a blow.

 

"Daisy. You've been part of my family for a long time." The words were soft and Daisy felt her throat constrict. She swallowed.

 

"See," she said, her voice strangled. She blinked rapidly against the moisture building in her eyes. "Total softie."

 

The hand left her shoulder moved and May shoved her. "Brat."

 

Daisy chuckled and straightened back up. She surreptitiously wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yeah, but your dad already invited this brat over for Chinese New Year so it's too late to get rid of me now, Mellie."

 

May's eyes flicked to the side as though she'd heard something and Daisy tilted her head - yep, that was definitely the sound of an approaching quinjet.

 

Then, "I would never try to get rid of you, Daisy-" And her heart did a happy little flip, because even now the idea that someone might actually want her around felt novel. May's eyes narrowed "-but know that if you ever call me that name again I'll make sure it's the last thing you ever say. Do you understand?"

 

"Yes, sir." She brought her hand up in a mock salute. A beat, "So, does Coulson know that story about the Chinese embassy?"

 

" _Daisy_."

 

"No then? Interesting..." 

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first thing I've written for fun in two years and it's taking me a while to get back into the swing of writing fiction. Any feedback would be appreciated.


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